A Hole in Time
by Sarah Slutz
Summary: A sad tale of timetravel gone wrong. What if something went wrong with the time machine and Trunks ended up in the wrong time and place when he tried to travel back in time?


**A Hole in Time **

**By: Sarah Slutz**

_Thanks TryniaMerin for Betaing! _

Bulma wiped sweat from her brow, not realizing she had smudged her face with oil. She took a deep breath and continued to work on the time machine --soon it would be ready. It was her biggest challenge, and Bulma Briefs never backed away from a challenge. She _would_ succeed, no matter what.

This time machine could be the last hope for her shattered world. However, she was so very afraid. Trunks would be the one to travel in it, of course, for they had no other choice. What if something went wrong? Shaking her head, she tried to dismiss a feeling of foreboding. Her inventions always worked. Of course Bulma had nothing to worry about. She prayed fervently and continued working tirelessly.

Finally, it was done, her pride and joy. She had tested it as much as she could, but the real test would be actually sending Trunks to the past. She was so very excited. Her most important invention and it could change everything for them! Everything!

"Trunks, I have to show you something, it's a surprise!" she declared, walking into the room where her son was exercising.

Trunks stopped doing his pushups, looking over at his mom. Wearing work overalls, giddy elation radiated from her eyes.

"Alright, mom, what is it?" he asked her, getting up and wiping his sweaty hands on his black work-out pants.

She smiled and practically shoved him towards the laboratory saying, "It's a surprise!"

They walked into the lab and Bulma stood in front of a blanketed bulge, at least eight feet high. She smiled very widely and grabbed the blanket. Slipping it away, she revealed her invention.

It resembled some sort of transportation device. Oblong in design, it was supported on four white boomerang-shaped legs. He could see four yellow coned-shaped turbines attached to it as well. The bottom part of the main body was black and the top was outfitted with a plastic dome. Trunks stepped closer and saw that beneath the dome there was a single plush white pilot's chair within a ring of multiple controls.

Bulma kept grinning, waiting for Trunks to say something. Finally, he smiled back and asked, "What is it?"

Bulma smirked. "It's a time machine."

Trunks opened his sapphire eyes wide and Bulma chuckled.

"A time machine?!" Trunks exclaimed, shocked to the core of his being.

"Yes, it's finally finished. I have been working on it for years. We can now go to the past and warn all of them… warn Goku and change history!" she crowed triumphantly.

Trunks gasped and he suddenly felt light headed. "I need to sit down," he told her, and she gestured at a nearby chair. He sank into it gratefully, his thoughts spinning.

"No, Mom, I- I- I can't believe it!" he whispered. Trunks' tone was filled with awe.

Bulma beamed. She was proud of her work. She was a genius after all.

"So, are you impressed?" Proudly, she stood at the machine's side.

"More than impressed! You're a genius!" exclaimed Trunks.

With a wicked grin Bulma replied, "I know."

Trunks laughed merrily like he hadn't done in years. He stood up and hugged his mother. Spinning her around, he tossed her up on the air and then caught her. When both mother and son finally sobered, Bulma started jabbering about the machine and all its technical details. Most of them which Trunks wouldn't need and didn't understand anyway. Nevertheless, he kept his ears open for anything useful in the practical sense.

When Bulma saw that Trunks was stifling a yawn, she knew that she was going overboard. In another time, perhaps, Trunks could have had the time to become a technical genius like her… in this timeline, though, his time had been spent fighting. Probably realizing she was boring him to death, she instead began telling him the basics and how each button worked.

When Bulma finally finished she informed him, "I wrote a manual for it too, just in case you forget anything."

Doubt stabbed at Trunks' thoughts. He didn't want to sound ungrateful but he had to ask his mother, "_Kaa-san_, do you think that it is totally safe?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, honey, nothing is certain. The tests have been successful and everything seems in order but even _I'm_ not perfect," she admitted softly, her cerulean eyes troubled.

Trunks nodded, accepting her explanation. "I understand." He comprehended something could go wrong and he could end up getting killed… or worse.

"So… are you…?" Bulma trailed off, not knowing how to ask the rest of her question.

"Yes, I am still using it, _kaa-san_. It's our only hope and I will take the risk."

Bulma sighed and turned away. She didn't want her son to see her eyes welling up with tears.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day of the scheduled departure finally came and Bulma entered her son's room, nervously trying to find something to do to use up her pent up energy. Standing beside her son's bed she noticed him leaning over.

"Do you want me to help you pack?" she inquired, almost wringing her hands.

"No, thanks, I already did," answered Trunks, raising his head from where it had been under the bed looking for something. Bulma followed her only son as he started walking.

"Are you sure you didn't forget anything?" she couldn't help but ask, being the protective mother she was.

"_Kaa-san_," he said embracing her, "Everything will be okay. You won't even notice I was gone, I'm changing the future, remember?" he grinned.

Bulma smiled back weakly, following him into the lab, where the time machine awaited. Slowly he opened the dome. He threw in his duffle bag and strapped himself into the control seat.

Bulma went up to him and kissed Trunks on the cheek. She cautioned, "Just be careful."

Grinning, he flashed her a victory sign and said, he replied, "I'll be, don't worry."

Concentrating on the task, Trunks pressed the necessary buttons and waited until the low hum told him everything was ready. Then, he waved at his mother, who was staring at him worriedly, trying to be brave, and pushed the start button. Bulma started fading away, along with everything else and the world began to spin.

At first he felt he was weightless, a floating sensation; it was a quite a pleasant feeling. Then an invisible hand pressed down on his chest and he could barely breathe. Abruptly, he stopped spinning and the machine landed hard, shaking him like a rag doll. He bumped his head, hard. Finally, the dome opened with a hiss as he rubbed his head, disoriented.

Gingerly, he got out to inspect where he had landed. He almost gasped when he noticed he had arrived to a bizarre place he didn't recognize. All around him there was only darkness, but he could somehow see despite this fact. Trunks was standing upon what looked like the rings surrounding a planet, like Saturn's. Only that the "world" resembled a huge beach ball more than a planet. He breathed cautiously, afraid because this looked to be outer space and there could be no oxygen. He was relieved and felt foolish at the same time when he felt regular air entering his lungs.

Trunks stared and whirled around, perplexed beyond words. He stood stagnant for several minutes, his mind totally blank. When he finally came to his senses, he shook his head to clear this thoughts. _I must have landed in the incorrect place. All I have to do is get in the machine again and figure out what went wrong_. He searched frantically for his mom's invention and was extremely relived to see it was still right there where it had landed.

Thanking a deep breath, he climbed into it and closed the cover. But then, quite suddenly, the machine began to fade around him, until it disappeared and the lavender haired youth fell on his rear.

He sat there and whipped his head about, his eyes wide. _Where did the machine go? _Desperately, he leapt to his feet and started searching, growing more and more frightened by the minute.

_What in the name of all that is holy is going on?_ his mind screamed and he continued his futile hunt.

All of a sudden a man appeared right next to him, startling him so bad he jumped. _I didn't even feel his ki a second ago, what the hell?_ The stranger was a bit taller than the lavender haired youth and very, very thin. He was wearing a black robe, his red hair wild and disheveled. In his eyes gleamed a demented look that spooked Trunks deeply.

For several seconds, Trunks simply stood there, stupidly staring at him. Then, the eccentric weirdo said, "Machines are a no-no here!" in a silly sing-song voice.

Trunks gazed at the demented man and felt the irresistible urge to drive his fist into his stomach. However, he calmed down, deciding it wouldn't serve any purpose. At the moment.

"Give it back!" Trunks demanded, exasperated.

"No, no, no, that is not permitted, this is my land, heheheheh, hahahaha, hohohohohoh, heheheheh," the lunatic chanted while he danced around.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Trunks shouted. Glancing around, it was obvious it wasn't anywhere on Chikyuu, for the blackness stretched out infinitely.

"I won't give any answers if you don't ask the correct questions! heheheheh, hahahaha, hohohohohoh, heheheheh," the crazy creature continued chanting.

"Please! I'm desperate, what is this place?" He looked at the apparition, pleading for an answer.

"Catch me if you can! hahaha." The strange man turned to start running, but Trunks was so fast that he caught him before he could even take the first step. He grabbed two fistfuls of the man's clothes and shook him, rattling his teeth. "Now tell me!!!!!"

"Okay, okay, you're very fast, did you know? I once had a cousin that ..." the man trailed off.

"Tell me NOW!!!!" Trunks yelled, warning of terrible things to come in his voice.

"Well, look who woke up on the wrong side of bed? Hehehehe," he chortled. Trunks glared at him menacingly with dangerous blue eyes.

"Fine, my name is Sultro, but you can call me Sul! This is where all time-lines cross, so expect to be here forever."

"NANI?????" Trunks exclaimed.

"I said that this is where all time-lines cross. You must have come from the time-line number 86,373,543, right? You know what? I know all the time- line numbers..." he began excitedly.

Yet he stopped because cutting his speech short Trunks interrupted, "What is that about being here for eternity? That's impossible. Please give me my machine so that I can go back."

"You can't go. You're the only companion I've had in centuries."

"_Nani_? Centuries? I must be having a nightmare." Trunks groaned. He rubbed his forehead. A headache was beginning to form right behind his temples.

"I'm sorry pal," Sultro said seriously. "You're stuck here with me for eternity. We are out of time, actually. Technically, time doesn't really elapse here."

"But I have to go back!!!! I MUST! The future depends on it... my mom… Chichi..." Trunks spluttered.

"I already told you, pal. Do you want to play hide and seek!" his new jailer said, acting silly again.

Trunks buried his head in his hands. _This must be a nightmare! Stuck here, for all time... _

The End


End file.
